Category Archives: Longrow

Longrow, as you probably know, is the name of Springbank’s heavily peated malt (it’s also more conventionally double distilled, unlike Springbank which goes through a complicated “two and a half” distillation and Hazelburn which is triple-distilled). Just as there have been a number of wine cask Springbank releases in the last decade, a number of wine cask Longrows have also been appearing from time to time. Of these I’ve previously reviewed a 14 yo Burgundy cask, which I found to be too heavily sulphured to my taste. As a result I’ve stayed away from the Longrow Red series, which has featured a number of red wine finishes/double maturations—a new kind each year. The first (I believe) was double matured in cabernet sauvignon casks (7 years in bourbon + 4 in the wine casks) and the second in shiraz casks (6+5). The current release is closer to a finish, having spent only one year in New Zealand pinot noir casks after 11 in bourbon. This 2014 release, however, appears to have been matured full-term in fresh port casks (if I am wrong about this, please write in below). In general I have had better experiences with port cask-matured or finished whiskies than with those from other types of wine casks, especially peated whiskies (like this Ballechin, for example) and so I’m hopeful about this one. Let’s see what it’s like. Continue reading →

I’ve previously reviewed a Longrow 18 released in 2011. This one, released in 2008, was the first of the Longrow 18s, and along with the Longrow CV, which was also first released in 2008, filled out the range of Springbank’s double-distilled, heavily-peated malt (the 10 yo and 14 yo had already been released in prior years). It was very well received on release; this is my first time drinking it and I’m very interested to see what its like.

Longrow 18, 2008 Release (46%; from a purchased sample)

Nose: Lemon and minerally, ashy peat. Other fruit as well below the lemon: kaffir lime peel, some kiwi, some grapefruit and also some tart-sweet apple. Quite a bit of salt too along with expanding iodine and olive brine. The classic Springbank leathery/wet sackcloth note is here too. Just lovely. Gets sweeter as it sits with some vanilla popping out as well to join the ever more fragrant citrus. With a lot more time there’s an almondy note as well. Let’s see if water bring out anything new. Well, if anything it seems to intensify that nutty note. Continue reading →

This is another of Springbank’s double matured wine cask releases, albeit for their Longrow line of peated malts.I’m usually a little wary of red wine finished whiskies but, as is usually the case at Springbank, this is closer to a double matured whisky: it was distilled in 1997 and spent eleven years in refill bourbon casks and then a further three years in fresh Burgundy casks. That and the fact that Springbank’s distillate is by its nature robust emboldened me to purchase it after release. I opened this bottle quite some time ago for one of my local group’s tastings and my notes say I liked aspects of it but found it a bit clouded by sulphurous notes. Since then it’s sort of got lost in a corner of my whisky lair and despite having planned to review it a long time ago (hence the picture taken in a different season) I’ve never actually gotten around to it. Well, here I am now and I hope those sulphurous notes have abated a bit, as sometimes happens.

The “CV” was the NAS entry-level Longrow (Springbank’s peated line) until recently when it was discontinued in favour of the new “Peated”. The CV was much beloved and there was the requisite gnashing of teeth at the news. It is not very clear to me though if more than the name has changed (I am clear though that I have not bothered to check–if you know one way or the other, please write in). It’s entirely possible that in a market where peat is king, Springbank felt the need to more clearly signal to the masses that they make a heavily peated whisky (after all, all Longrow is peated, so that description is not particularly unique to this release). Then again there may actually be a difference. Luckily, the price is not very different.

At any rate, I had saved a large’ish reference sample from my last bottle of the CV and having recently acquired a sample of the Peated the time is right to taste them head-to-head and see if I can make out any differences worth remarking. I’ve since found (and purchased) an old bottle of the CV at the original price at a store in the area and so unless the Peated knocks my socks off I’m in no hurry to run out and get a bottle. Continue reading →

The Longrow 18, like the Longrow 14, boasts the legend “Heavily Peated” on its label, but, as with the younger sibling, it’s not quite what you might expect from a heavily peated malt. For my general views on recent Longrows (and I don’t mean to give the impression that I have had any from earlier eras) see the older review. For now, let’s dive into this one, which is from the 2011 release:

Longrow 18 (46%; from my own bottle)

Nose: Austere, briny, flinty. Whiffs of gunpowder, and also something sweet and organic (farmy). Not so very different from the 14 yo. Gets more minerally with time. With more time the farmy/peaty note gets rounder and comes to the front. There’s some apple peels in there too now. A drop of water brings out some lemon/citronella, and some menthol too. Later there’s some sweeter fruit in there too, but I’m having trouble picking what it is–oranges dipped in salt, maybe (do anyone other than Indians eat oranges with salt? I’m sure they must).Continue reading →

Longrow is the name of the “heavily peated” whisky produced at the Springbank distillery (Hazelburn is the unpeated and triple-distilled whisky produced there). I put “heavily peated” in quotes because even though those words are on the labels, I’ve not found the 14 yo or the 18 yo I have tried to be particularly heavily peated, and the same is true of the few sherry/wine cask Longrows I’ve tried; of all the (not very many) Longrows I’ve tried the now-defunct CV was the smokiest–I have no idea if its replacement (the “Peated”) is as smoky or more/less.

Or, it may be the case that the flavours and aromas I associate with high levels of peat are the pungent phenolic and smoky notes of the peated Islays whereas the peat used at Springbank may impart other kinds of qualities. Be that as it may, this Longrow 14 seems to me to have far more in common with peatier Clynelishes and even some Highland Parks and Taliskers than it does with peated Islay whiskies, or even peated Highland/Speyside malts like those made at Ardmore, Benromach or Edradour (Ballechin) whose smokiness I find to have a barny/farmyardy quality (also true of Ledaig from Mull). This particular bottle is from the 2011 release and was opened in August of 2011. It got to the halfway mark a couple of months ago. I included it in a tasting I hosted for some friends last night and it was quite popular. My notes here are a blend of the abbreviated notes I took last night (when I did not add any water), and those recorded tonight as I finished off the bottle and paid a little closer attention (and added a little water at the end). Continue reading →